Transcendent reward
Discovery.
It means that you found something that had never been known to the world, something that had never existed until now.
And now, I 'discovered' a Heavenly Spirit.
A spirit with a name even I, a five-year rotten-water player, had never heard before.
Coincidentally, a spirit that shared the same name as one of my hidden traits, 'Heavenly.'
Was it a coincidence, or was it something I could discover because of my hidden trait?
'That doesn't matter.'
What matters is the fact that I discovered it.
Facing the unknown light itself, the existence at the top of the Tower of Chaos, I reached out my hand.
Then, I pulled something caught within that light.
'A spirit egg.'
It was a spirit egg.
But it was far from an ordinary spirit egg.
On the surface of a spirit egg, there are usually marks related to its spirit.
Like how an air spirit's egg has wind-scratched traces, and a fire spirit's egg bears scorched marks.
A light spirit's egg itself is made of light.
But the egg that held the Heavenly Spirit didn't fit any of those cases.
'It's wrapped in feathers.'
It was an egg made of white and black feathers.
The ratio was exactly half and half.
Hundreds, thousands of layers of feathers formed the egg.
This kind of egg was the first I had ever seen too, not only was the name unfamiliar, even the egg's form was unfamiliar beyond belief.
I stared blankly at the egg.
Then a parchment with the egg's information floated before my eyes.
[Egg Holding a Heavenly Spirit (???)]
★ An unknown egg that fell from the 'Heavenly Realm,' the end of light and darkness, of chaos itself
★ Only a 'Heavenly One' can see the egg, and hatch it.
The description wasn't long.
But even in this, I could figure out a few things.
'Normally, the Heavenly Realm means the Divine Realm.'
The Divine Realm, the place where the goddess resides.
A Heavenly One means a member of the Celestial race.
And the fact that I found this egg was proof that I was a 'Heavenly One.'
Of course, there was no way I was truly a Heavenly One, it must have happened because of the hidden trait 'Heavenly.'
'Then, is Heavenly a trait related to the Celestial race?'
I stroked my chin.
If you think in an ordinary way, that would be so.
But that was an error of generalization.
'… The demon race also calls the Demon Realm the Heavenly Realm.'
We commonly call the Heavenly Realm the Divine Realm, but in fact the Demon Realm is also called the Heavenly Realm, mainly by the demon race.
So from this description alone, I couldn't tell whether this egg fell from the Divine Realm, or from the Demon Realm.
The white and black feathers mixed half and half only deepened the confusion.
'I'll only know for sure once I hatch it.'
I couldn't reach an answer right now.
But one thing was certain, this was never a normal egg.
The Constellations of the Pantheon, the masters of the towers, and the Spirit Kings were all watching it closely.
Constellations always take interest when something novel or great is discovered, but the most important part was the Spirit Kings' attention.
'Spirits are beings strong enough to make and maintain forests.'
Spirits are the most important medium that sustains the world.
When they form a contract with humans, they let them handle the power of nature, and depending on a spirit's grade, it's even possible to erase an entire huge mountain.
Kings of spirits that powerful.
How overwhelming must the Spirit Kings be?
The Constellations of the Pantheon, the rulers who dominate the rifts of the Abyss, the earth-dragon giants who guard the goddess, the Black Emperor and the White Emperor said to be at the far north and south ends of the world... the Spirit Kings were beings that didn't fall short even if compared to them.
'There isn't a single person who has contracted a Spirit King.'
That's why, in this Pangaenia, there was no one who had contracted a Spirit King.
Spirit Kings are absolutely neutral, and never interfere with the affairs of the world.
So the weight implied by the fact that all Spirit Kings were interested in this 'Heavenly Egg' was never light.
It meant there was value in this egg, equal to that, or beyond it.
"Settlement has been completed."
At that moment, new letters appeared.
The settlement for Main Quest 3 was finally completed.
Even looking at Main Quests 1 and 2, the settlement time had been quite long.
'Unlike other towers, it wasn't a tower you could climb only if your level was high.'
If it had been a tower you climbed according to a fixed level standard, settlement would've been easy, likewise, each tower would have fixed score standards.
But the Tower of Chaos wasn't like that.
Climbing the Tower of Chaos was a pure fight with myself.
'The score might be lower than I think.'
So I could receive a lower score than expected.
Scoring a fight with 'myself' is subjective, there was no way there could be an objective indicator.
I didn't know how the score was calculated, but this was clearly different from the previous Main Quests.
If you expect too much, the disappointment is bigger.
So, for this part, I slightly let go of my expectations.
'Getting the Heavenly Egg is enough.'
Steadying my breath, I looked at the settlement sheet in front of me.
<'Main Quest 3: Climbing the Tower' has been completed.>
It was updated to the hall of fame.
Meaning I at least entered the rankings.
An achievement no one had ever accomplished, higher than any score I'd received so far.
Main Quest 1, Survival, was 220 points.
Main Quest 2, Obtaining a Class, was 230 points.
And this Main Quest 3, Climbing the Tower, was a full 240 points.
At this rate, it felt like I could look forward to my rank.
But the reward wasn't over yet.
Three Constellations that had appeared before, and two Constellations I'd never seen.
Five Constellations responded.
With Lucky Dice included, when the reward tiers rose six steps, a message appeared saying even the reward's class itself had changed.
If you pass 20 tiers, you can obtain a transcendent reward.
In other words, it meant the reward tier I'd earned by climbing the Tower of Chaos was at least tier 14 or higher.
I had expected rewards to have tiers, but it seemed they were divided far more systematically and finely than I thought.
'The reward transcends?'
But I didn't know what it meant for a reward to transcend.
Does it mean I get a transcendent reward?
Or does the reward's grade itself become something different?
But I soon learned what it meant.
<'True Demeanour', 'Grim Demon Sword', 'Extreme Iron Combat Helm', 'Annihilation Gauntlet', 'True Stamina Potion', 'Extreme Wand'...>
True, Grim, Extreme, Annihilation.
Items bearing those four titles all meant they had reached the ultimate extreme.
Even an ordinary object becomes a treasure beyond compare if those four titles are attached to it.
Its performance and options change to match a treasure, and you can't obtain it even with money, because transcendent items cannot be traded or transferred in the first place.
Only one person.
Equipment that shows absolute power only to its user.
Just as humans transcend by eating stars, those four titles too could only be attached to something transcendent.
'… So this is what "the reward transcends" meant.'
I was so shocked I lost my words.
If I didn't have the Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch, my heart would have burst.
The effort needed to attach those four titles was no joke, it was on the level of walking around Earth once.
Normally, because it takes such outrageous effort, people don't transcend ordinary gear or tools... but this wasn't something I had to make, it was a 'reward' being given to me.
Even choosing just one would be a jackpot, but it was telling me to choose two.
Compared to when I cleared the previous two Main Quests, I was unmistakably more excited now.
To the point that the Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch forcing this excitement down felt hateful right now.
'This is insane.'
Checking the items one by one, I clicked my tongue.
I couldn't get my head straight in the flood of pouring rewards.
***
I had come out of the tower, and was crossing the portal.
—Not bad, Knight King.
The golden spirit that had allowed me into the portal the first time spoke.
A being like a gatekeeper leading to the Spirit Tower.
But no ordinary gatekeeper would know anything about someone climbing the tower.
More importantly, it called me Knight King, that was the title I had when I was Wilhelm.
Frowning in doubt, I turned my head, but in an instant the portal closed.
... Was that golden spirit not just a simple gatekeeper?
"Oooh, so you really climbed the Spirit Tower!"
A High Dryad was already in front of me.
With countless Dryads guarding the area, it was staring with eyes that looked ready to pop out.
Taking a breath, I asked,
"How much time has passed?"
"Not even a day."
Just one day.
Not just by feeling, inside the Tower of Chaos I had spent at least a hundred days.
Yet here, only a day had passed.
Ziiiiiing!
Another portal opened, and Hudson and Isabella appeared.
"Huk! Huk! Uweeeek!"
The moment he came out, Hudson threw up.
Whatever he had gone through, there wasn't a single place on his body that was fine.
His clothes were rags, his hair was burnt and curled.
Bow.
Isabella dipped her head to me briefly.
Unlike Hudson, Isabella showed no change in appearance.
She looked like she'd just gone for a stroll in front of her house.
"Druid, I apologize for doubting you."
The High Dryad took on formal manners.
Only now was it truly treating me like a 'guest.'
"As promised, if you give the 'spirit egg' to the forest, we will treat you as our eternal friend, of course, we will also give you a reward worthy of that."
Ah.
... Right.
I had clearly promised to give a spirit egg to the Dryads' forest.
The problem was, I only had a single egg.
Back when I climbed the Spirit Tower as Wilhelm, I had gotten five spirit eggs.
So this time too I thought I would get multiple eggs, but what I obtained was only one, the 'Heavenly Egg.'
'Do I have to run away?'
At that, the High Dryad's eyes sharpened.
"Druid! Are you saying you won't keep your promise?"
… It sure was quick to catch on.